The Big Four: Together No More
by HotSauceGamer
Summary: Rapunzel Gothel, Merida Dunbroch, and Hiccup Haddock had been best friends since there were barely 12. Their differences within the walls of Hogwarts bonded them; they were attached at the hip - but after the new student arrives and sinister things begin to happen, they'd come to find that their differences might be what destroys their friendship after all. (Jackunzel, Merricup)
1. Pre-prologue

**_DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters from 'Rise of the Guardians', 'How to Train Your Dragon', 'Brave' or 'Tangled'. These characters explicitly belong to Disney/Dreamworks/Pixar/Warnerbros (J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter'), I am only writing a story BASED on the people and events from these creators._**

 _Hello my levelies! Pleeeeease PM me or leave me a review, I want to know what you think! Enjoy!_

There were only three at first.

Hiccup, the twig (who was supposedly a viking); Merida the skilled archer with an explosive temper and fiery red hair; and Rapunzel, who's golden locks stretched all the way down to her ankles in silky threads.

They had met during initiation at Hogwarts six years ago, when the sky was at its greyest and the wind its coldest. While everyone else had seemed to fit in quite well, these three were left. Not that they were left overs in any sense, they had just felt… different. In separate houses and from separate lives, yet together like glue; It was odd, anyone who looked at the trio would think so. They stuck out in a crowd much like cat in a dog park. If someone needed to find them, well just look for red and golden hair.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III had the demeanor of a limp noodle but the intelligence and inventive brain of an architect. He gave off the impression that he'd just been dumped almost all the time because of his incessantly sweaty palms and 'dead inside' smart alec attitude. Most of the time, his fists spent the day shoved in his pockets with his head hanging low, like he was bored of everyone no matter what the circumstance.

He wasn't fairly liked by many - they thought of him as a wimp, when in reality he never gave up on anything he believed in. He was assertive and tough despite what everyone thought of him. His interests consisted of three things: Inventing, drawing, and Dragons. Though fellow students gave him a hard time about it, he spent most of his nights up late, studying them like the end of the world was coming. He took Dragon Training at the Hogwarts arena as a sport (which he wasn't very good at) and had a tendency to bring up his 'direct line of viking ancestors' at any given time. Even with his quirks, his friends loved him dearly. He was one of them after all.

Merida Dunbroch was almost the opposite. While Hiccup could take what people threw at him, Merida had a hot-headed temper that was on the brink constantly, if anyone said or did anything that Merida thought was unjust or cruel she had a hand in their maiming.

Instead of Dragon Training, Merida took archery. This she was incredibly skilled at - she was well known for it. If anyone dared take on the red-haired lass they were sure to end up humiliated - or crying. Her abilities had sprouted when she was very young after her dad had given her a bow of her very own. She was good at many things but school was not one of them. She hated rules and she hated staying inside - and those were both things that Hogwarts enforced heavily.

Rapunzel Gothel was what many would call naive. She was like a child, filled with wonder and love and excitement. She was self conscious of herself and the way that everyone saw her, as if she was weak and not as strong as everyone else. She knew she wasn't inadequate and she wanted to prove that to others dearly. Despite this, Rapunzel was almost always happy. People loved her, adored her because of how sweet-like-candy she was. Nobody had ever seen her without a smile.

She liked to be outside, in the grass and the flowers while she bathed in the sun. Her favorite thing was to watch the animals. The deer, the birds, the rabbits and the horses - anything. She was the human projection of the happy feeling someone gets when they look at puppies. Her many, many, many enjoyed activities centered around reading, art, being outside and exploring. She loved adventure and wanted nothing but to be outside and be free. Her mother, however, had different plans. On the account that she didn't get out much, she liked to wander outside without her shoes (to feel the grass under her feet of course) and would constantly leave her dorm without them - accidentally.

Both Hiccup and Merida were jealous of Rapunzel, though she had no idea of it. They wanted her patience, her forgiveness, her happiness, her ability to make everyone like her, but most importantly they wanted her friendship. They loved everything about her, and each would do anything for her.

The three were inseparable, at least that's what everyone thought.

What they didn't realize was that everything was about to change, and it all started.

With Jack.


	2. Final Prologue

The moon hung high over the trees like an oyster, shucked and empty with its white stomach turned towards the castle. It was so big and so bright, it seemed to chase the darkness away. The stars were dappled across the sky, like pearls spilled across the horizon.

It was beautiful.

Something about the night seemed to draw Rapunzel in, as if the moon was speaking. It kept her awake and for this she rarely slept. She craved the night like she craved the sun. The idea of the night changing into day and the day into night was such a curious thing. She loved it like she loved everything. The light, the dark, the in between - with all the colors as the oyster sank and the sun rose made her weak at the knees. She never understood how anyone could hate the wilderness, how people could only see the ugly under so much beauty.

Her breath rose into the air like a fog, a mist. She watched it rise, so free to chase the wind and touch the sky. How she longed for it, freedom. Rapunzel was well aware of the rules in Hogwarts, like how you weren't supposed to leave the dorms at night; but the moon, it was full, and it wished for her to watch beneath it.

Rapunzel closed her eyes and let the cold rush over her like a blanket. She was in her sundress with nothing but a small cardigan to cover her, but she didn't mind it. As the breeze blew by her ever so slightly, she turned her eyes up towards the sky and let her words slip out.

 _'Paint a picture of yourself_

 _So I can put it on my shelf_

 _And then I'll never ever ever forget your face,'_

Her syllables echoed through the night, over the ledge and into the trees and bushes of the forbidden forest. As she stood here, her song bleeding into the tallest peaks in Hogwarts, she did not notice the pair of eyes tucked into the shadows that watched her in such a sinister manner.

 _'I'll take a photograph at dawn_

 _So I can see you when I'm gone_

 _And when the sun comes up I'll wake up with you,'_

The body that belonged to the eyes wasn't really a body at all, but a projection of shadows and darkness twisted and tangled into that of a person. This thing however, made no advancement towards the singing Rapunzel, even as she swayed so close to the hands of the darkness - he did not touch her. Instead, the body and the eyes drifted to the opposite wall.

As her hallelujahs continued, he paced the dark room. If he stepped in the light she would see him, the darkness was his camouflage, it was his home. He held back in the blackness; for it was not the right time to show himself, not yet. He had to keep himself calm and collected, right now he couldn't afford to make a mistake.

 _'I wanna see you smiling there_

 _Tell me that you really care_

 _Maybe put my favorite record on_

 _And dance till morning,'_

Yes, it had to be the right girl, she was here and she sang like a ditz on the tallest tower in Hogwarts. Didn't her mother ever teach her how to be safe, with the powers that she had? Wasn't she afraid of the dark? The cold?

No, this girl seemed to not have a care in the world besides the silly dance she was putting on as she sang.

The darkness chuckled to himself. How tender, how sweet. This little, fragile being wasn't afraid of what normal girls were afraid of. He knew all fears and hers was something much deeper than spiders or snakes. He knew she would play into his plan just perfectly, she was going to be easy to trick. He couldn't act now though, he had to wait. There was someone missing.

Footsteps in the distance made the darkness slink back against the wall.

 _'...Och! Of course she's up here, the daff pidgeon.'_

There was a laugh, _'...Well she is Rapunzel, isn't she?'_

Rapunzel could hear the voices of her friends before they came into the light. A smile twitched at her lips and she turned to the entrance way as they approached. What an evening to share with the people she cared about most, right?

"Rapunzel!" Merida laughed breathily as Hiccup and her dashed up the stairs, "Yer gonna git us caught yeh keep singin' like tha' dont yeh know!"

"Look at the moon, it's so bright tonight." Rapunzel whispered with a grin as she turned her green eyes back to the balcony.

"You sure love towers." Hiccup said, looking at the great arches built into the structure.

Rapunzel looked over the edge. "It… reminds me of home."

Silence crept between the three as they stared into the dark. How many times had they snuck out to see each other during the hours of the night? Definitely enough. It seemed like there wasn't time to see each other in the day. They wanted more, to be best friends, to explore and adventure together - who could do that with so many rules and classes?

"Ooohkay, well we were going to see the dragons but you ran off, so if you'd rather stay here I guess -"

"Dragons." Rapunzel's eyes lit up with excitement as she cut off the brown-haired boy. "Right, the dragons."

"Yer such an airhead there, Punz." Merida jested.

"You're a hot head." Rapunzel snapped back with a giggle.

"Yeah, yeah, and I'm a fishbone let's go." Hiccup ushered and dashed down the stairs.

The girls followed close behind as windows draped with moonlight passed them and chased over their clothes like liquid silver. There was a thrill that came with wandering the halls at night, Merida in her nightgown, Hiccup in his tattered day clothes and Rapunzel in her sundress. A part of them all wanted to stay inside, where it was safe but it was always extinguished with the feeling of now or never. What of their future? The last thing they wanted to do is look back and regret what they hadn't done in the best part of their youth. The need for adventure under these high ceilings was more powerful than the need for safety. They wanted memories.

As the arena got closer (which was separate from the castle, just down the hill from the Whomping Willow), their excitement began to rise. Hiccup had been promising this for months and just like he always did, he came through. He'd prepared it all, he studied all the safest and best ways to let it out, keep it away, let it close and even attack it if something happened. He may not have been good at the games but he was good at the books. He was good under pressure.

As Hiccup thrust the key that he'd snatched from Mr. Gobber (his training teacher) and pulled on the heavy arena doors, Rapunzel gasped and turned to Merida.

"Did you know there's a new student in Slytherin?" she asked.

"A what?" said the fire-haired student as she caught her breath from the run.

"Yeah, he came yesterday, apparently he's Mr. Bunnymund's nephew and-"

"Would you two just shut up and help me get these open!" Hiccup scream-whispered as he struggled with the door, only to look down and stop. "R-Rapunzel are you barefoot?" he breathed.

"Er, well - I-"

"Yeh left them in th' room agin' didn't yeh?" Merida snapped as Punz slipped over her words.

Rapunzel smiled nervously as she tried to explain herself, but she only succeeded in tumbling over her teeth.

"Rapunzel do you realize what's in there? You could-"

She cut off Hiccup's frustration in an attempt to redeem herself. "I know, I know but I was too excited for the Dragons and the tower and-"

"Och trods of herdin hill stop talkin' at the lass and jest open th' door!" Merida placed her hands on the metal handles and pulled open the heavy vault with one hard yank.

The doors screamed on their rusted hinges from their inadequately oiled metal to reveal a wide clearing, made of stone and caged at the top. It was here that Hiccup trained every day, with sweat and shields against beasts four times his size. Despite the danger, he lived for those moments.

Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck and looked around at the cages shrouded in darkness. His heart pounded and he wasn't sure if it was from the excitement or the fear.

Merida and Rapunzel gazed in awe at the large Arena before them. Only trainers were allowed in here, yet there they were, standing where the greats had once stood. They battled beasts, beasts that they were going to see today.

Each cage's door was held closed with two huge wooden logs to prevent the dragon inside from escaping. The utmost precautions were taken to keep the beasts secure. Dragon fighting was a very dangerous sport and deaths in the ring were not taken lightly.

Hiccup directed their attention to a door to the right. He explained that this particular cage held the Nadder, which wasn't all that bad. The Gronkle would be heavy and harder to put back into its enclosure, but as long as Merida and Rapunzel followed through they could at least get this one inside. They each held shields and were told to stand back a bit to prevent any injury from the Dragon's flying spikes. Hiccup learned a few tricks to keep the animals away; an eel, some sweet-grass, and if it came down to it he would use them. For now, the main objective was for Merida and Rapunzel to see him in action, but they still had no idea he was bad at what he worked so hard for - he never had the guts to tell them. They were both so excited to see the Dragons, to see him do what he was passionate about and he didn't have the heart to take that away from them.

"Yer sure yeh can do ths' Hic?" Merida said as she placed her hand on his arm. She had surprised him and pulled him from his pensive thoughts.

He turned to look at her with a smirk, "Of course, I mean, what's the worst that could happen? Besides, y'know, agonizing death."

Merida laughed and leaned her elbow on his shoulder, but Rapunzel was too excited to see what was behind the door to realize something funny had been said.

The first log took all three of them to lift. As they laid it to the ground and rolled it to the side, Hiccup kept his eye on the door. He'd expected the Nadder to come flying into the opening like it always did, but it didn't. No, the cage was silent, and as he neared the entrance a realization started to bleed into his gut. It flooded into his toes and rushed up his spine like Ice. He opened his mouth to tell his best friends to run, but before he could utter a word the sound of the Dragon breaking through the second log cut him off..

Things seemed to happen in slow motion from there.

Hiccup threw himself onto the ground to avoid the shards of splintering wood as they scattered in all directions. He looked up and saw a black mass hanging from the metal caged ceiling. It stepped across the bars like an agile cat and stared at them from above.

"Hiccup…" Merida said nervously as it locked eyes with him.

In an instant the dark blob had flown toward him, like a fox pounced on its prey. He rolled out of the way and leapt up to avoid its snapping jaws. His heart was pounding faster than it had ever before. The Dragons he fought in the ring were slow and sloppy, but this one was fast and hidden in the dark. At this moment, Hiccup thought for sure someone was going to die.

"Oy!" Merida shouted as Hiccup ran, screaming from the Dragon's clutch. She hucked her sheild like a frisbee off her arm. "Git awae from him yeh overgrown broomstick!" The shield bounced off the beast's back and in rage it turned towards her with a growl.

"Merida!" Hiccup yelled in fear as it glided across the stone floor at her.

Rapunzel could see the whole scene playing out before her eyes, and god help her if she would have to watch any of her friends get hurt. With quick thinking, she slid over to the weapons rack in the corner and yanked a heavy hammer off its hook. It pulled her towards the floor with its weight, but as soon as she had a grip on the handle she lifted it, pulled it back and reeled it around her like a throwing weight. She let go and the thing spun in the air like a discus.

The heavy head of the hammer smashed the Dragon in the face and it flew backwards in a heap of wings and scales.

Hiccup and Merida turned their heads towards Rapunzel in surprise. Their smiles of both relief and amazement brought Punz a giddy feeling inside.

"Woohoo!" Merida shouted and thrust a fist into the air, but the celebration was too soon.

The Dragon groaned and shook its massive head as it stood back up again, as if to shake off the 75 pound hammer that had just smashed its face like a nail head.

"Oh c'mon, is that even fair?" Hiccup groaned as the black creature showed its large rows of white teeth, like stars in the night against its black leathery skin.

"Rapunzel is ther' a bow?" Merida shouted as the Dragon lifted its enormous wings and jumped into the air. It screamed and blasted what looked like blue fire into the stone wall.

"No!" Punz shouted back as she rifled through the weapons clumsily, only inches from the explosion.

"Just make noise!" Hiccup shouted, "Er, confuse it. Bang swords together or something!"

"Oh thas jus' _grand,_ we'd love a little help from th' _Dragon expert_ over here!" Merida snapped in anger.

"Just gimme a second!" Hiccup shouted as he dashed over to the Net Launch in the corner of the room. This is wheat they used when practicing ways to take down smaller Dragons. He had no idea if it would work on a beast so big, but it was the only thing he had at the moment. An Eel or sweet grass wouldn't work on such an angry creature. Hiccup pulled back the ignition lever on the Net Launch, twisted the thrust mechanism and lifted the nose to take aim. The Dragon was circling like an eagle circled its prey. "Get it still!"

"Well it would be a lot easier if it wasn't flyin' now wouldn't it?" Merida shouted as she picked up a stray sword and slammed it against the floor.

Rapunzel grabbed a metal club from the rack. "Would you please stop arguing and work together!" She lifted her weapon above her head and brought it down hard onto the weapons post. Everything on it crumpled in a mess together and made an orchestra of clangs and pings like it was some kind of horror movie.

Hiccup could see the Dragon stop circling as it attempted to stay afloat in the air with the noise disorienting it. He took this moment to place the creature in his line of site, closed his eyes and fired.

The weighted net spun out and wrapped itself around the black masse's frame. It was brought to the floor in a pathetic clump. In an instant it thrashed and flung itself against the nearest wall. Before Hiccup could get near it, the beast had wriggled two legs loose of the tangle and ran right by Merida, out of the nearest opening…which just happened to be the Vault doors.

All three students stood in disbelief, fear, and disbelief as the thing hurled itself into the trees, crushing pines and oaks in its trail of destruction. It screamed and shrieked as it got farther away, and quieter until finally, silence.

Rapunzel dropped her club and panted as her heart tried to catch up with itself in the moment. Death had been so close. Closer than she had ever been. Part of her was screaming in adrenaline, like the danger was still near, but the logical part of her sunk to her gut like a big, heavy rock.

The Dragon had escaped.

"Oh gods," Hiccup whimpered after a moment. "We… we forgot to close the door. How could we have forgotten to close the door?"

Merida stared outside and her hands shook like earthquakes. She was still clutching the sword for dear life in her fingers. The Dragon had gotten so close to her she could smell its breath. If Rapunzel hadn't thrown that hammer she'd be…

"Dead. That's it," he laughed nervously, "We're so dead." Hiccup gasped in histeria as he placed his hands on both sides of his head and walked in a circle. "I-I have to tell him. Gobber is going to kill us. We're gonna-gonna get expelled and-and-"

"Have yeh gon' mad Hiccup? We're not tellin' anyone about ths'!" Merida hissed as she stormed up to him.

"What? W-we have to! If we keep this a secret we're-"

"Goin' teh be safe and sound thas' whats gonna happen! Ye'll keep yer mouth shut about ths' if yah know what's good for you, yah blitherin' idiot!"

As the two continued to argue, Rapunzel's tremors weren't stopping. She leaned back and rested a hand against the wall, the other on her heart. She liked a thrill but she had never had one this big in her entire life. Was this what a near death experience felt like?

 _'... So help me Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third if yeh say anythin' about ths to anyone ah swear I'll throw yeh to th' beasts meself!_

 _'... I honestly wouldn't mind it right now, to be quite frank.'_

Punz slid down the wall and sat on the concrete floor. She looked down at her sweaty fingers and tried to stifle the hyperventilation trying to crawl its way out of her throat. This is it, the teachers were going to find out and they'd send her home. Rapunzel would never see any of her friends again and she'd never leave her tower.

A lump rose in her throat.

How could they have thought this was a good idea? Oh how she wished she could see the comforting moon from under the caged ceiling. She wished it would chase away the fear clawing its way up into her bones.

At this moment while she was shrouded in darkness, she sighed and ended her vigorous shaking. She couldn't be afraid. She had to be brave. She curled her hands into fists and pushed herself up so she was on two feet.

"You guys!" Rapunzel shouted, ceasing their bickering with her sudden serious tone. "We need to leave. Someone at the castle no doubt heard what happened here. Merida's right, we have to go."

"What? Why?" Hiccup panicked.

"Because if we git caught here it'll be bad enough!"

"Um, this conversation is feeling very one-sided." He protested.

"Hiccup!" Merida snapped.

"Okay, okay fine, but if this goes bad I am so gonna hold this over both your heads."

With the decision final, all three gathered themselves up, took a breath and quickly made their way back to the castle - Rapunzel in her sundress, Merida in her now slightly torn nightgown, and Hiccup in his tattered day clothes. Running toward the beacon of the high peaks, they knew that whatever was going to happen, they had no choice now but to be silent about the events that occured this night.

With everything they understood about the danger, the guilt, the fear that came with keeping their lips sealed - what they didn't know is that someone had been pulling strings in the shadows.

The twisted darkness from Rapunzel's time in the tower had followed them in their exuberant excitement. For months he knew about this too, and he waited. He knew that in the midst of the terror they wouldn't have noticed him shrouded in a cloak of night, opening the Vault doors after they had been closed.

They hadn't noticed him as he watched the night unfold in delicious chaos, a faint smile tucked into the corners of his lips.

They hadn't noticed him, push, pull, and set his plan to action.

And just as he suspected, they had played into it perfectly.

Now, all he had to do was wait.


	3. Chapter 1

**_hey everyone! If you didn't know, the first chapter was kind of like... an 'informant' chapter, so we could jump right in to the action. The character I've introduced in this chapter is the granddaughter of Professor Lupin. I know it doesn't really work with the Harry Potter books/movies but she has an important role in the story (plus I wanted her to be someone's descendant, y'know?) Let me know what you think of her... I like her so far, but we're going to get much deeper into her character (and all the others ;) hehe) later._**

 ** _If you're worried that she's going to impose on 'The Big Four' concept, don't fret, The Big Four is still the main plot and structure of this fanfic. I'll be getting more into Hiccup and Merida in the next few chapters, so get ready, Merricup fans! :)_**

 ** _anyway, comment, or PM me, and enjoy!_**

Even though it had only been early into the AM that the three had come back, they still failed to slip into the deep sleep they were hoping to. They had been kept awake by the everlasting worry that they'd be caught, that they'd left something behind and whatever it had been was just enough to tie them to the constant ' _what if'_ s were the things that kept them up.

It wasn't until she heard her house mates waking did Rapunzel start to realize the real weight of the situation.

The Dragon could hurt someone else, could _kill_ them and it would be all their fault. Someone was bound to go walking into those woods and fall into the path of the Night Fury they had released. Hiccup heavily stressed what type of dragon they had let out when they'd come back to the castle, mentioning more than a few times 'fire and death', but Rapunzel was too distracted with her own shock to really grasp what he had been saying.

Whatever it had been, it was dangerous and they had released it into the world.

"Rapunzel," Greta - her roommate - had said as she still lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. "You feelin' alright?"

"Ah, y-yeah," Rapunzel chuckled, sitting up, "I'm just a little tired."

There came the pensive look Greta always gave when she knew something was wrong, but she said nothing of her suspicions and only nodded. "Well, you better get ready. They're calling a meeting."

Rapunzel's heart fell into her stomach, "Who's 'they'?"

Greta pushed her black hair away into a ponytail as she talked, her straight bangs fell over her eyebrows concealing her expression, "Y'know, _them._ As in the _head honchos_. All the professors _and_ headmistress McGonagall. Must be something big."

Rapunzel's heart began to race and she tugged at a lock of her long, blonde hair. Fear was slowly climbing its way into her chest. Her, Hiccup and Merida were going to be expelled, for sure.

"Also," Greta continued and ripped Punz out of her thoughts, "That new kid in Slytherin… John? Jason? Something like that - he's supposed to be in our Potions class."

"H-How do you know wll this?" Rapunzel questioned innocently.

"Never underestimate me, Punz," Greta said with a wink and a smirk. She turned from the mirror and lightly punched Rapunzel in the shoulder. "I can find out anything."

It was supposed to be playful banter, but at the moment it didn't seem that playful to Rapunzel.

Greta was right, however. Born pureblood, Greta Lupin was one of the smartest, slyest people Rapunzel knew - but not in a bad way. Many people mistook her for a Slytherin, but anyone who _knew_ Greta realized that she was most _definitely_ a Hufflepuff. She was quiet and introverted, but when she was provoked she was boundless. Punz was one of the only people she talked to, and she held a place in her heart for her blonde-haired friend.

Greta had a tendency to find out things she probably didn't need to know. She made a point to befriend Prefects and teachers for 'a future need', but secretly Rapunzel believed that Greta just liked people, as much as she didn't like to admit it. It was almost like Greta sniffed out trouble. For example, last year she'd suspected someone was sabotaging Quidditch brooms before all of the games. Her friend Albus had been hurt when his broom had thrown him into one of the Ravenclaw stands. Determined, Greta used her befriending techniques on one of the Prefects and got him to give her the Broom Room's key. Additionally she found out which students went missing every night before the competitions _and_ which ones were receiving better scores during the plays. When she thought she'd found out who it was, the night before the games she locked herself inside the Broom Room and waited. When the suspect showed up, it went into an all-out duel.

Greta ended up with a bruised rib and the Slytherin was expelled - after he got out of the infirmary.

For these reasons, Rapunzel was afraid of what Greta could find out. The girl was ingenious and intimidating, but more than anything she was a friend and Rapunzel hoped that this fact would override any future suspicions that Greta may have - or already had.

Rapunzel pulled on her uniform and slipped on her robes. She wondered what Hiccup and Merida were doing right now, how they were feeling, if they were okay. She sure wasn't. Part of her wanted to just come clean to Greta right now, but the thought of expulsion hurt more than the guilt.

The meeting was in the dining hall, which seemed fitting for the morning. Talk about a ferocious dragon of death over breakfast. _What fun_. Greta had offered to walk with Rapunzel, but she'd refused by making an excuse about meeting up with Hiccup and Merida. This only half of a lie, she _was_ supposed to meet up with them but not exactly at that particular time.

Punz thought that Greta hadn't noticed her spacey behavior, but she was wrong. Lupin _did_ notice.

Rapunzel walked slowly down the west hallway, her mind spun like a top with the negative outcomes of the incident that had occurred just hours before. She didn't like lying, she _really_ didn't like lying, but she had to be brave, like Hiccup and Merida.

"Jack Frost!" a shrill voice screamed.

A door opened just ahead and a flash of white and green tumbled into the hall. It caught itself before the fall and turned its wide, laughing smile back to the door. A book was thrown and the flash dodged it. It clunked to the floor as another one came flying.

"Do not _ever_ come back into this classroom, you bloody tosser!" Another book flew and at long last, a wand.

The flash (which was now evidently a boy, a _Slytherin_ boy to be exact) caught it before it hit the ground and laughed as if it was all a big game. "Alright, alright," he chuckled as the door slammed, "Was fun while it lasted." He didn't notice the blonde-haired girl that stood just a few feet away from him and only leaned down to pick up his books. All the pages had been folded after they'd been tossed face down to the floor, with their covers spread out like wings.

It irked Punz that the pages were folding in the way that they were, books needed to be taken care of, not thrown like penniless objects. In sympathy Rapunzel drifted over and picked up one of the volumes. She delicately unfolded its inner pages and closed it.

Jack hadn't noticed Punz until he bent down to pick up another book and caught sight of her bare, pink toes. He almost laughed to himself before he lifted his face and saw a girl attempting to hand him his assigned plant Encyclopedia.

"Here," she said and offered a sweet smile.

Jack was taken aback by her gesture at first, but then smirked. "Barefoot." he said.

"What?"

"You're barefoot." the white-haired boy repeated.

In response, Rapunzel looked down to find that indeed, she was. A sigh left her lips and she smiled at him again. "I always forget my shoes."

"And socks?" Jack jested. It reminded him of himself.

Rapunzel chuckled. "Yeah, I don't get out much so I like to feel the grass on my feet."

The white-haired boy smiled and took the book from her. "Isn't it a bit dangerous to walk around without any shoes?"

Rapunzel shrugged innocently, "I'd think getting hit with a book from a teacher would be a bit more dangerous."

Jack laughed lightly as they began walking together, "Well you know, teachers don't really like it when you freeze their cats."

Rapunzel gasped. "You froze her car? That's horrible!"

Jack looked back, she'd stopped in the middle of the hall and stared at him with wide eyes. He smirked. "Well who do you think you're talking to, I'm a _Slytherin_ after all."

Rapunzel's eyes narrowed in a pouty face. "Being a Slytherin doesn't mean you have to do bad things."

Jack's smirk fell as he looked at her, all serious and stoic. "Everyone else here seems to think otherwise."

Rapunzel softened and stared at him. She _definitely_ would have recognized that white hair had she seen it before, but she didn't. "Are you the new student?"

Jack turned to face her fully and did a half bow with a smirk, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance." he said.

"Oh," Rapunzel said, but just as soon as it left her mouth it was followed by another, more excited "Oh!" She jumped up and down in enthusiasm and clapped her hands. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Rapunzel."

Jack watched as she raced up to him and thrust her hand forward to shake. He raised an eyebrow and shook it. She was by far… quirky. "Jack, Jack Frost."

Rapunzel looked down at his hand and her eyebrows furrowed.

"I know, I know. I'm cold. I just have… a low body temperature." he said.

Punz stared at him for a minute before she sighed and smiled. "How are you enjoying Hogwarts so far?"

"Oh y'know, besides the uptight teachers, crazy prison rules and biased students, it's pretty great." His voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Well, I for one think it's nice here," she said. "I think you'll like it more once you meet some friends."

"Yeah, I'm more of a _lone wolf_ , if you know what I mean." Jack leered at her and showed his front teeth.

"Well, you don't have a choice here at Hogwarts." She sniggered.

"Is that so?" Jack asked.

"You'll just have to consider me your first friend - even if you did freeze Mrs. Filch's cat." Rapunzel said.

Admiration rose in Jack's gut. "Okay then, Rapunzel. You're my first friend… but just so you know, I _did_ unfreeze her cat before she - y'know kicked me out."

"Why were you in there anyway?"

"She was helping me with my new schedule. Potions is my third period but I've heard the teacher is a jer-"

"That's my third period too!" Punz said with excitement.

Jack chuckled. "Cool."

Rapunzel grinned and they continued to walk. She mentioned something half to herself about how similar to him Hiccup had been when she'd first met him. How he considered himself to be alone, but was one of the nicest people she'd ever met.

"Hiccup?" Jack asked in interest.

Rapunzel's eyes lit up as she remembered her friends. "Yes, Hiccup. He's my best friend. He's super smart and likes dragons and invents things, Oh! And Merida she's _really_ good at archery and she plays Quidditch and-" she remembered last night, and Mistress McGonagall's meeting with all the students. The guilt and worry started coming back again.

Jack noticed her sudden change in attitude and became concerned, "You, okay?"

"Ah, y-yeah I just… there's a meeting with all the students today at the dining hall so we should probably get to it."

Jack grimaced, "With _all_ the students?"

Rapunzel nodded and began to walk in the direction of the dining hall. Jack followed reluctantly. So much for the lone wolf title.

"So… do you know what the meeting is about?" Jack asked as he picked up the pace.

Punz felt the air leave her lungs and she looked away, "No, but my friend Greta thinks it's something big."

"Sounds like you're a popular person, with your friends and all."

She chuckled nervously, "I guess you could call it that. Everyone here is wonderful." her eyes twinkled as she grinned, "It's beautiful here. I like the sun, especially at the beginning of the year. When it shines through the Forbidden forest it's amazing. I especially like watching the moon at night. Seeing it from the towers is my favorite thing."

Jack smiled at the mention of his dear old friend Manny.

"When it snows though," Rapunzel drew in a breath, "It's so gorgeous outside. I love everything about this place."

Jack was almost surprised at the way she talked about snow. He liked it too and he'd been here a few times before to deliver the snow package - he'd never seen her before though. He was sure he'd notice someone with such long golden hair.

"Yeah," he said, "I'm not much of a summer person."

"I like the spring." Rapunzel said giddily, "All the flowers and the green grass. The animals too, just wonderful. I have a chameleon - Pascal - I bring him with me to a lot of places, but I'm not allowed to bring him to class." she frowned.

"A girl with hair to her ankles who owns a chameleon. You really are weird Rapunzel."

Punz chewed on her lip as they made it to their destination. Students stood around anxiously in the dining hall - having yet to take their places at their tables. As Rapunzel and Jack made their way through the crowd, the voices that had been loud just moments before turned to whispers.

Jack was new, so he was immediately subject to things like that. Moreover, he was a Slytherin. To the students of Hogwarts, that was like candy.

A smirk appeared on his lips as he watched their eyes and reactions. _Kids_. He thought to himself in annoyance.

"Rapunzel!" Merida bounded up with Hiccup close behind her, the looks on their faces turned to fear when they witnessed Jack standing behind her. "Who's tha'?"

"This is, um," Punz glanced back nervously, "This is Jack. He's the new student."

Merida glowered at the site of his black and green robes, "An he's ah Slytherin?"

Jack looked down at his clothes and then back at the fire-haired girl. A tinge of annoyance shot through him. How could someone as nice as Rapunzel be friends with this girl? She didn't even try to talk directly to _him_ either, she just growled something passive at Rapunzel as if he wasn't there.

"He's nice," Rapunzel said in defense, "Slytherins can be nice."

Hiccup tried to break the tension building between Merida and Jack by introducing himself. "I'm Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, it's nice to meet you."

"Cool name." Jack said with a smile as he shook his hand.

"I'm straight from viking descent. Best dragon fighters around." Hiccup beamed as he jabbed a thumb at himself.

Jack already liked this kid. He was a nerd, but the best kind of nerd. Despite what he'd thought before these kids seemed alright - except for the redhead.

"Rapunzel," Merida whispered to her golden-headed best friend as the boys continued to talk. "We need tah discuss theh issue with theh' Night Fury."

A shiver ran down her spine. "Er, I'm um, sure it can wait. We should befriend the new kid first before we-"

"Och! Rapunzel I'm not havin' thes with yeh toda-"

"Everyone take your seats!" A fairly angry Professor McGonagall shouted.

At the sound of her voice, everyone was shocked into action. Students spread out like mice. Jack waved a goodbye to Rapunzel and headed for the people dressed in his robes, Hiccup awkwardly stalked over to the Ravenclaw's table and Merida shot Rapunzel a frustrated look as she bounded off to the other Gryffindors.

Rapunzel walked over to her table and was quickly waved over by Greta. A look of vexation tensed her eyebrows just behind her bangs. Rapunzel figured it was just due to the students calling her a Slytherin again, but as she got closer she realized that it was more of a look of worry than discontent. Punz was too afraid to ask what was wrong.

"As some of you may know, last night a Dragon was let out of the arens." McGonagall was angry - very angry actually. Almost shaking.

Murmurs erupted into the dining hall, rippling through the house tables.

"The dragon that has been let out is dangerous, the Monstrous Night Fury."

Gasps leapt into the air.

"This particular dragon was being held in the arena for further study. But the students, we believe to be two or three in number, let it go."

Rapunzel's eyes met with Hiccup's across the room, and then with Merida's.

"If anyone, knows _anything_ about the culprits we order you to come forward. This matter is life or death, and the people responsible will be expelled immediately."

Rapunzel curled her hand into a fist and stared at the food on the table. _Life or death?_

"Teachers are working on finding the beast and capturing it as soon as possible, but for the time being anyone found in the Forbidden forest will lose house privileges and points automatically." McGonagall paced the floor, her robes flowing behind her as she walked. Her hat tipped elegantly over her hair. She watched the students for a guilty or afraid look. She waited for someone to come forward, when no one did she spoke. "Very well. All houses lose thirty points. Curfew starts at six o'clock PM now, and anyone found violating these rules will be punished appointedly."

An uprising of yells and groans erupted from the audience. Students screamed vulgar language and pushed food off tables. Kids started throwing accusations at each other and someone whipped out a spell, It sent a bowl of potato chips flying into the crowd. One kid from Slytherin threw a shoe at a Gryffindor. Teachers shouted and tried to rangle the kids to stop. Prefects tried to calm their houses but failed.

Rapunzel looked at Greta, who merely watched the crowd stoically.

In in instant there was a great light that exploded into the room. Many students had to cover their eyes to avoid the blinding white that expanded in such an intense second.

Minerva Mcgonagall stood, her wand poised straight up into the air as if she shot the ceiling with _Stupify_. Her eyes narrowed as the silence crept across the room. She trembled with fury.

"I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in my school!" she screamed.

Everyone was in shock and only looked at each other in nervousness.

After a tense minute with just her eyes glaring into the souls of her pupils, she spoke. "There will be no Hogsmeade trips this weekend. No one is to leave the school unless accompanied by another student or teacher, you will only leave the castle to get to your classes, no exceptions."

* * *

"This is bad." Hiccup whispered as him, Merida and Rapunzel walked passed the men's bathroom and slid into the woman's. Nobody came in here, because of Moaning Myrtle. Everyone just used the boy's, so the trio came here to be alone on the regular.

"Och! Hiccup this is all yer fault!" Merida spat.

"My fault? _You_ guys should've shut the door!" Hiccup snapped back.

"Guys stop!" Punz pushed herself between them. "Okay you need to keep your voices down, and now is _not_ the time for us to be arguing about this. Besides, maybe he won't attack anyone?" she said hopefully.

"Rapunzel yer an airhead." Merida stated in annoyance.

Hiccup looked puzzled, "No, I think she's right. I got it with the net, and if it's all caught up like that it's not going to be rushing to attack anyone."

Rapunzel gave Merida her winning face.

"For now we've just got to lie low." he said.

"Well thas not gonna be easy." his fire-haired best friend stated.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Are yeh forgettin' that Punz is _roommates_ with Greta Lupin? As in _Broom Room_ Greta Lupin? Knowin' her she's probably already on to us." Merida crossed her arms in defiance and looked to Hiccup for an answer. He had none.

"Greta is my _friend,_ " Punz said sternly, "She'd never do anything to put me in a bad position."

"Och please Punz, theh girl might as well be a Slytherin. She does things fer herself and you know it."

Rapunzel looked at Merida and then back at Hiccup, "Slytherins aren't bad people." she said.

Merida and Hiccup rolled their eyes. "We know." they said in unison.

"For now, let's just enjoy the time we have with each other." Rapunzel stated.

"What time? With all these rules we cannae do anythin'. Ah want mah _freedom_." Merida hissed as she gazed through the window and into the woods with her intense blue eyes.

"Hey!" Rapunzel gasped in excitement, making the other two jump. "Speaking of Slytherin, we should invite Jack to have lunch with us."

Merida grimaced and looked away, stating she would never ' _have lunch with a Slytherin_ '. This received the same words Punz always used whenever someone said anything bad about that house.

Hiccup shrugged, "He seems pretty cool."

Merida laughed, "Well of course yeh like someone like him. Yer all… This." she waved her hand in his direction.

"You just gestured to all of me." he said in response.

"Awe, wee lamb." Merida pouted sarcastically, as if she'd hurt his feelings. She threw her arm around him and nudged him with her hip. "Theh weakest of all theh best dragon fightin' vikings is our best friend."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." he said.

"Eh, it wasn't one." Merida retorted as Hiccup placed his arm around her shoulders.

As the silence crept in, they only stared at each other with smiles on their faces. After a few moments they turned and looked at Rapunzel, who's grin had stretched from ear to ear as she looked at them so close together. Her hands were stuck as if she was clapping and Merida instantly knew what she was thinking.

She shoved hiccup off of her and sent him to the floor with a great ' _oof'_. She brushed herself off and shook her hair in an attempt to conceal the redness on her cheeks. "Let's get inside." Merida said as she cleared her throat and left the restroom, Hiccup still laying with his back against the tile floor.

Rapunzel walked over to him as he stared up at the high ceiling.

"Hi, Punz." he sighed.

"Don't worry," she laughed a little, "She'll come around."

Rapunzel helped him up.

"Thanks," he said with a groan as he walked ahead, "and…" he added as he turned back to look at her, "Don't say anything to Greta that might get us caught. I… I don't want to get expelled."

Rapunzel looked at her bare feet. "Don't worry," she said, "My lips are sealed."

"Thanks." Hiccup said again and ran to catch up with Merida.

* * *

Jack Frost held his hands in his pockets as he sauntered his way down the west hall. It was empty, as everyone was probably in their rooms or hanging with friends on a Saturday such as this one. Jack took this free time to explore the castle, after all the place was huge.

He was supposed to be keeping an eye out for anything sinister, anything that could have to do with _dark magic._ It was just him and Bunnymund here, the others had spread out to a number of locations across the world. Tooth was in France (the lucky duck) and North was in Russia. Sandy was god-knows-where.

He sighed.

How much longer was he going to have to deal with all these rules and obligations? At least Bunny was a teacher, he got to do whatever he pleased. _I'd make a wonderful professor_. Jack thought to himself as he placed his hands on the back of his head. He couldn't even use his staff, how was he supposed to find out what was going on if he didn't have his staff? He had a pathetic wand, and that was all.

' _Why Manny directed us to the wizarding schools, I don't know,'_ Jack remembered Bunny's words as if he'd heard them a million times before, ' _But it's something big, something bigger than before.'_

Jack closed his eyes and relaxed his shoulders. He was supposed to blend in, like a student. If he caused any of the pupils to panic, there'd eventually be disruption of order - and after order is lost, chaos. The Dragon incident two days ago was enough to make the tension rise, now he was on ultimate restriction. Do _nothing_ to give away your cover and all will be fine.

Jack opened his eyes at the sound of faint voices that were headed toward him down the hall. In the heat of the moment, he slid into the doorway of the men's bathroom and listened intently. In truth he had no idea what it is he was doing, he was a student after all, he didn't need to hide - yet here he was… hiding.

' _... that Scorpius kid is so dead!'_

' _... Look at the bloody knocker he gave me!'_

Jack knew those voices. He'd heard them the night before in the common room. It came from Simon Willing-stead… he was the kind of kid that bragged about death threats and bad grades. Frost didn't like him, in fact a lot of people didn't. He also knew who the ' _Scorpius kid_ ' was that they were nagging on about. The kid was a quiet, introverted student that spent most of his time in the corner of the common room. He never spoke a word.

' _... Did you see the look on Broom-Room's face when I snapped her wand? Bloody priceless.'_

Frost furrowed his eyebrows and stepped into the hall as they passed. ' _Snapped her wand'_? What kind of kids were they? He clenched his teeth together and continued his way down the hall. Those kids were the reasons why people thought Slytherins were evil.

Rapunzel's words echoed in his mind, ' _Not all Slytherins are bad_ '. She seemed like a sweet person, so did that other kid, Hiccup. The Redhead annoyed him. She always gave him sideways glances like he was a villain. He'd had lunch with them two days in a row now, and Merida's attitude to him never changed. It made everything a bit awkward.

Jack recalled the way Rapunzel always stood up for him whenever Merida said something mean. It felt good, to have someone believe in you like she did. He remembered how she was barefoot when they first met, the way she talked about the moon. She seemed so filled with wonder and happiness, but any mention of her hair and she immediately shut down. Jack eventually stopped talking about it, but there was something about her that intrigued him, something mysterious. It was like she was hiding something, and he noticed it when she talked about her friends. During lunch, he saw the way they looked at each other every once in a while.

What was it she'd said about Hiccup? _He liked Dragons._

Jack almost bumped into someone who was walking particularly fast. They mumbled a small ' _Excuse me_ ' before continuing on. He watched them go and looked around. Now that he thought about it, there were quite a few kids coming his way. They were buzzing about something important he guessed.

"Jack!"

Frost spun around to face a panicked Rapunzel, she panted heavily.

' _Speak of the Devil…'_ he thought.

"Have - you seen Merida - or Hiccup?" She gasped in between words.

"Well, no," he said, confused. "What's wrong?"

Punz looked at him with her big green eyes, worry had taken over them. They looked glazed over. "Some people got hurt, over in the courtyard."

Jack tensed. Ever since he'd become a guardian, he'd always felt an obligation to protect kids. These students weren't any different. "Show me."

Rapunzel took his hand and led him down some steps, through a hallway and finally to a courtyard crowded with students. Even when they had stopped, Punz kept his hand in hers. She was afraid, worried.

Prefect Hugo Granger-Weasley had dashed passed them in the hall, in his arms he carried a bloodied and battered Scorpius Malfoy. It was quite an incredible amount of blood, enough to stop both Jack and Punz in their tracks.

"Rapunzel!" Shouted Hiccup, Merida just on his heels as they ran up their best friend.

Punz gasped and let go of Jack so she could wrap her friends in a hug. "You guys! What happened?" she said, panicked. "Was that Scorpius?"

"Yeh," Merida said as she caught a glimpse of Jack and scowled, "Him and Greta were in the courtyard when something attacked them."

The three shared a nervous glance with each other.

"Is Greta okay?" Rapunzel asked quickly.

"Yeah, she's right over there. Won't say a word about what happened." Hiccup gestured to the black haired girl who leaned against a wall to watch Malfoy be taken away.

"She apparently saved his life by fending it off of him. That's all anyone has gotten from the situation."

Jack saw the blood that dripped from the gash on her forehead beneath her bangs and into her eyes. She wiped the scarlet that trickled from her nose too. Her face lifted and she made eye contact with him. Frost started to walk over to her, but before he could even get close she turned the corner and walked away.

"Greta is just…" Rapunzel placed a hand on his shoulder when she saw him, "She likes to be left alone."

Jack smiled at her, "Didn't I say that when we first met?"

Rapunzel looked at the ground, "Greta isn't exactly like you, Jack."

"Then what's she like?"

"Th' girl is a connivin', little devil is wot sheh is. Only does things fer herself. Ah swear she's a Slytherin." Merida snarled.

Jack clenched his jaw. He was tired of her judging people based on their houses, she judged him and everyone else, even if she didn't know them. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were one."

"Wot did yeh just say to me?" Merida stomped up to Jack until they were nose to nose.

Rapunzel looked from person to person. She knew this was going to happen eventually, it was just a matter of time.

"Forget to clean out your ears, hot-head? Or are they always filled with steam?" Jack scowled and stared into her rage-filled eyes, almost like a challenge.

"Hey guys," Hiccup said awkwardly, in an attempt to stop the fight. "You want to know something cool? My Viking ancestors lived on an island called Berk and-"

Merida silenced him as she placed her hand on his face and shoved him away. "Slytherins are bad, nasty people."

"Well if the shoe fits." Jack growled.

"Alright then, Jack _Frost_. Ah challenge _you_ to a race. Tomorrow mornin', on _brooms_."

Jack laughed, "Alright, I'll take that challenge Hot-head."

"Oy," Someone shouted from the crowd which no one seemed to notice had gathered around them, "You don't wanna race Merida, mate."

"... _She's the best around._ " said someone else.

"... _She's the Quidditch Seeker._ "

Jack looked back at Merida, who crossed her arms smugly. "The winner gets what, exactly?"

"Oh, yeh'll know wot the winner gets when th' day comes, Frost-bite. It's wot the loser gets thah should be worryin' yeh." she responded with a smirk.

Jack smiled and nodded to her. "Guess you should be worrying then, eh Hot-head?"

"Guys, can't we just _get along_?" Rapunzel said hopefully. She smiled at both of them, her eyes puppy-like.

Jack immediately felt bad. He couldn't imagine how awkward it was for Rapunzel and Hiccup to be in the middle of this. He opened his mouth to say something like ' _Yeah, you're right this is totally dumb haha_ ' but he took one look at Merida and changed his mind.

"You're on." he said, finalizing the bet.

Punz and Hiccup groaned in response.

Both Merida and Jack stomped away in different directions, angry, excited and frustrated all at the same time.

"You know for complete opposites, they're pretty similar." Hiccup said.

" _Tell_ me about it." Rapunzel said. She looked around and her eyes stopped scanning the courtyard when she saw a drop of blood on the pathway. It was Scorpius', from when he'd been carried away. She frowned and tugged at a loose lock of hair.

Hiccup saw.

"We should, um, visit him tomorrow. Y'know? I don't think he'll have many visitors." He smiled at Rapunzel in an attempt to console her. He knew that Scorpius wasn't much liked by people, only because his dad was Draco. He wasn't one to judge (after all he had his fair share of people who didn't like him because he was a nerd), but he thought it would make Rapunzel feel better.

"Yeah," Rapunzel smiled back at him, "You're right. He'd like that."

With that, the two best friends went their separate ways. Though the students were still buzzing about the attack, news of the Broom Race had spread like wildfire. The students gulped it up like Sunday Dinner. All the way back to the dorms Rapunzel could hear talk of Merida's big challenge in the courtyard. It irked Rapunzel that she had to hear them talk about it, she didn't want her friends to fight - but they weren't the priority at hand, not now at least.

Rapunzel entered Hogwarts' kitchen corridor, tapped on the barrel two from the bottom to the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff' and the lid of the Barrel swung open. Rapunzel crawled inside and made it into the common room. It was the coziest place Punz would ever go.

The yellow sunlight let in through the high windows that had a ground-level view of the lush green grass outside. They flooded the room with a beautiful copper color that complimented the plants and rugs that were placed aesthetically throughout the room.

To her surprise it was almost empty, except for one person.

It was Greta.

"Greta." Rapunzel said and walked over to the couch where she sat.

Greta looked at her. "Hey, Punz." she responded.

She was still covered in blood - though dried now - and her shirt had been torn at the bottom. Her eyes just stared into the fire, a pensive look pressed into her forehead from beneath her bangs.

"Greta," Rapunzel repeated as she picked up a tissue from the coffee table and handed it to her. Her friend wiped the blood from her face with it, but only succeeded in smearing the dried and cracked scarlet across her cheek.

"What happened?"

"It was, um," Greta's brown eyes flashed to the common room entrance. "The Dragon." It was a lie and she didn't like it, but it was what she had to do - even if it was just Rapunzel.

Rapunzel felt her heart do a backflip and bury itself into her belly. The Dragon that they had let out did this… and her friend was hurt because of it.

Greta caught the fearful look on Punz's face and narrowed her eyes as she turned back to the flickering flames of the fireplace. Something was definitely off and she was going to find out what it was. Instead of saying anything, Greta crumpled the tissue in her fingers.

"Scorpius is hurt really bad."

"You saved him." Punz said and offered a comforting grin.

"He almost died. He's my _friend_ , Punz. He almost _died_."

Rapunzel furrowed her eyebrows. "You did too."

Greta sighed and slumped down in her spot.

Punz did the same. She had been a few feet close to the Night Fury's fire blast, yeah, but to be mauled by one? She couldn't imagine it. She thought that the beast couldn't do anything… all caught up in that net. Finally, she sighed and turned to Greta.

"This is why you're a Hufflepuff," she said, "You protect your friends. You fight when provoked, just like a badger."

Greta smiled at her friend's words. "Thanks, Punz."

Everything seemed so surreal, to sit there with a blood-covered Greta and talk about a dangerous dragon. In all honesty she felt lightheaded and afraid, but she pushed it away. She had to be brave, like Merida and Hiccup… like Greta.

She took that moment to decide something, something more for herself than for anyone.

She decided that tomorrow, she'd heal Scorpius.

She'd heal him with her hair.


	4. Chapter 2

**_Hey my lovelies! I'm back! Sorry it's been a while, I've been extremely busy these past few months :p but don't worry this story is still happening! Please keep in mind I'm not really going off of the new Harry Potter book (The Cursed Child), I'm mainly sticking with my own plot and characters because that's what fanfiction is for, right? Anyway, thank you for the encouragement (you know who you are c;) it's really given me a lot of motivation, so be ready to see more of this story soon! Summer is almost here so there will definitely be a lot more writing in the upcoming future. Anyway, cheers to the new chapter!_**

 ** _Love you guys! Kisses! '3'_**

 ** _Enjoy!_**

* * *

Hiccup flexed his jaw in frustration. He was more than just irritated at his best friend's hot-headed challenge against the new student, but he knew there was nothing he could do to convince her otherwise. Hiccup understood why Merida was so frustrated, even though he thought the reason was incredibly unjust and biased.

"Do you _have_ to race him?" Hiccup groaned in vexation. He thought that Jack was a cool, nice guy and wished Merida could see that… but she didn't. Instead all she saw were the Slytherin robes he was adorned in and judged him only based on that.

"O' course weh do!" Merida stomped as she gathered her things together. "Where does tha' boy git off, callin meh a Slytherin like tha'?" she clenched her fists and pulled on her cloak as Hiccup followed her down the hall, awkwardly. She continued to mumble to herself as she did so, speed-walking out of frustration and anger.

Hiccup was about to protest and say something else, but instead just grabbed her hand and stopped in his tracks. His fingers twitched as he held her palm in his so delicately. Part of him wanted to pull her into a hug, but the urgency of the current situation stopped him. He pointed to the doorway, which had the large letters "NO STUDENTS ALLOWED OUTSIDE" pasted on the front. The entrance was bolted together with a large metal lock, and Mrs. Filtch stood next to them, ominously.

Just as Merida read the roughly painted letters, the intercom flooded with the sound of an acute, ghost of a voice (one that could only have belonged to Headmistress Mcgonagall),

' _All students are to stay inside at all times. Due to the attack that occurred on two of our Wizards yesterday morning, we will be doubling security. Any students that have classes located outside will resume free-period in their common rooms. Anyone found violating these rules will be punished immediately._ '

The hue of blush on Merida's cheeks from Hiccup's intimate gesture almost immediately turned to an expression of irritation. The situation with the dragon had gone from only being allowed outdoors with an accompanied partner, to no being allowed outside _at all_. Normally, Merida would've chalked this up as a reason to throw a fit, but the idea that the teachers were getting ever closer to finding out their secret only made her send a concerned look in Hiccup's direction. Come to think of it, the trio (Hiccup, Merida and Rapunzel that is) hadn't discussed the incident at all. Rapunzel was always with Jack which made it harder to converse about it at all with her. This fact only frustrated Merida even more.

"Weh need teh get Punzie." she stated firmly.

"She's probably with Jack." Hiccup said matter of factly. He pressed his lips into a straight line and sighed through his nose. If he was being honest, it agitated him too - the way she obviously avoided talking about it with them. However, Hiccup was her best friend, he knew her better than anyone and that fact made him sympathize with her. Rapunzel cared about everyone (even the bad people) so he could only imagine the guilt she was feeling about the Dragon attack.

"Ah'll make him go awae then." Merida said as she led Hiccup back down the hall, their hands still intertwined with each other's. Her hatred for Jack only got more intense the closer he got to Rapunzel. It had always been the three of them… _only_ the three of them. It was more than Jack just being a Slytherin, it was the fact that he was putting a wedge between their friendship… or at least it felt like that. Merida, Hiccup and Rapunzel had always done everything together, what would happen if someone else entered the group? Three was perfect, it was their lucky number, and god help Merida if it she had to watch it become four.

By the time they'd found Rapunzel, the sky had greyed over with clouds and students crowded the halls like ants, many bustling and whispering about the new rule pasted on all the doors. Punz sat in the library with a book in hand and Jack directly in front of her, who looked bored out of his mind while they were seated at a study table.

"Rapunzel!" Merida croaked with a strained whisper.

Punz's eyes looked over her book and Jack turned to face the crazy redhead who stood behind him. He smirked and flashed his pearly-white teeth. "Did you just figure out the doors were closed, Hothead? Guess the race is off then-"

Merida ignored his condescending question and shoved him out of the way so she could speak to her golden-haired friend. She had no time to deal with Jack at the moment, all she wanted to do was talk to Punz, and hopefully she would have that chance. "Ahm not here teh fight with yeh, Frost, Ahm here teh speak to mah friend." she snapped.

"Awe, I'm hurt you don't think of us that way." Jack faked a frown and placed a hand on his chest as if she'd hurt his feelings. In truth he was upset she'd come in and demanded so rudely to take Rapunzel from him, but by the look on Punz's face he guessed he should back off. Merida's angry, red expression made him want to shoot off more jokes, but instead he kept silent in hopes to make it less awkward for Rapunzel. His relationship with Merida often reminded him of the one he'd had with Bunny, not so long ago.

The redhead slammed her hands on the table and narrowed her eyes at the blonde as if she were a teacher, or she was in the midst of creating a diabolical plan and Rapunzel was the next to get in on it. Merida, after all, did have a tendency to be a bit over dramatic, so as expected her sudden behavior made everyone turn their heads.

Hiccup immediately became nervous as the eyes littered about the library turned to them in surprise. He coughed and tugged at the back of his friend's robe. Weren't they supposed to _not_ attract attention? Come to think of it, the three always stuck out in any given situation, so the whole 'stealth mode' thing might be a little harder than they'd originally thought.

As she looked around herself, Merida noticed the level of interest she'd gathered unconsciously and turned an angry head back to the subject at hand. Her teeth clenched as her face shot a 'this-is-all-your-fault' expression to the person directly in front of her. "Er yeh ready teh talk _now_ , Punz?" she said condescendingly.

* * *

"Dumbass." the black-haired girl muttered as she sat next to the infirmary bed. She was reading _The Island of Dr. Moreau_ by H.G. Wells and had her feet propped up on the side of the twin. Her head was buried in the thick pages of the book, and only her eyes could be seen from over the cover. Her hair half concealed them, but her vexed expression was still visible.

In the tangle of blankets awoke Scorpius Malfoy, who's leg, torso and head had been wrapped in gauze. He blinked and stirred, which caused Greta to look up from her book and jest at him with her words. Upon hearing her quiet insult, Scorpius turned his big grey eyes to her, as if he was surprised anyone came to see him at all.

He looked away, "Would you rather have died?"

Greta closed her book and planted her feet on the floor. The irritation about her was evident, the way she stared at him made his insides twist. She looked more hurt than she was angry, if he would have guessed. "What was happening with Simon was _my_ problem, I could've handled it." She snapped.

"Well it didn't look like you could." Scorpius said and shot her a look of annoyance. Despite the pain reeling about his body, he was curious more than anything - but most of all he was exhausted. He wanted to roll over and go back to bed, but Greta probably wouldn't let that happen without a conversation about the incident.

Greta snorted and stood from her chair. Frustration bubbled up inside her. This kid could've _died_ and he's just acting like it was nothing? Did he even care about his own life at all? She wanted to smack him in the face with the book, but refrained. She couldn't exactly hit a cripple, but the fact that he had saved her made her furious. She hated being indebted to people - she was the one that was supposed to stack up debt from everyone else.

"Why're you even here?" the gimp said as he watched her pace the room. Scorpius felt embarrassed, he'd never been in a state like this one. He needed help with practically everything and he hated that Greta could see it.

" _Because_ everyone thinks that the bloody Night Fury attacked us while we were walking around together. I came here to make sure you keep your mouth shut about it, as far as everyone knows this is from a Dragon that I fought off of you." Greta pulled back her bangs to reveal the large gash on her forehead that had previously been stitched together and scabbed over. She sighed, "Besides, it's the… least I could do."

Scorpius let a long, drawn out breath go from his nostrils. He was aggravated at her words and excuses; what had happened had been a serious thing, and to keep it a secret was to put both of them in danger. "You're being stupid." he said, finally. "We have to tell someone."

"If we tell Mcgonagall," Greta began in a stern, vexed voice. "She'll expel them, but I'm not done with it. Something else is going on and I want to find out what it is."

Malfoy shifted in the bed as he stared at her. "Well then what are we going to do?"

"There's no ' _we'_. You leave Simon and his goons to _me._ You can't even walk anyway." she growled. There was _no way_ she was letting Scorpius do this with her. She didn't have the time or patience to babysit someone else. She spent nearly all of her time looking over her shoulder, she couldn't handle doing that for two.

"You expect to handle this all on your own?" he asked.

"Absolutely, I do."

"That's stupid." Scorpius snapped.

"I work alone." She plopped herself back in the chair next to the crippled boy and again picked up her novel.

"Sounds lonely." he said, and faced her.

"This, coming from the kid who talks to no one."

Scorpius pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at her. He was a very introverted person and spent a lot of his time alone. The kids in Slytherin just thought he was weird, so he didn't really talk to anyone - but still, what she'd said had upset him. "Just because I'm alone, doesn't mean I like to be."

Silence pooled into the infirmary as Greta processed what he'd said. She tore her eyes from his and stared through the room's windows. "Sorry." she mumbled. Her stomach twisted with guilt. She'd been so caught up in her anger she's said something unjust and insensitive… whoops.

He watched her intently, and then finally said, "What's it like?" As he leaned his head back to face the ceiling. He blinked and listened for her to start talking. He'd seen Greta before, a few times when he walked from class to class. He knew the rumors about 'Broom Room' but never actually talked to her. He wondered about her one time or another, she wasn't very popular and he related to that personally.

"What are you talking about?" Greta was getting tired of his antics. What was his deal anyway? Was he trying to make her feel bad? She only got more irritated the more he interrupted her reading, but she let him talk anyway. She had to be nice, after what he'd done.

"Having friends," he said after a long pause. "What's it like having friends?"

The black haired introvert threw him a nasty glare before she looked was in Slytherin, right? If he was then he'd most definitely heard the way people talked about her, so he should know she wasn't exactly… popular. "You're looking for the singular word. _Friend_."

Scorpius snorted and interjected with a 'You befriend all the prefects. And what about Albus Potter?'. He'd known that Rapunzel was her friend… everyone knew, but her relationship with Albus was rarely discussed. He knew that the Potters and the Lupins were particularly close from previous connections, but she rarely talked _about_ him - or _to_ him. There were rumors that she'd met Harry Potter, _the_ Harry Potter but as far as he knew they were just rumors.

"The prefects," Greta laughed, "they're for a future need," she kicked her feet up on the bed again. "But Albus, I've known him all my life. Him and his father are incredible… He's more of a relative really." She remembered the way he got protective whenever someone talked bad about her, or the way he taught her how to ride a broom. He was definitely more of a distant brother than anything.

"So it's true," Scorpius smirked, "You have met Harry Potter."

"Of course it's true. I visit them every year during christmas, it's only fitting that I meet _the_ Harry Potter with our families as close as they are."

Of course, that was it. Greta Lupin, from the great Professor Lupin all those years ago. He was part of the big rebellion against Voldemort, he was friends with the amazing Serious Black and taught defense against the dark arts… but the interesting subject that Scorpius found intrigued him most was Professor Lupin's ability to turn into a Werewolf. He wanted to ask about it but thought maybe it was too personal, given the fact that he'd passed recently. Old age, that's what Scorpius had heard.

Greta tapped her fingers against the bedside table in anticipation. Her brain searched for the right words but her lips neglected to form them. Had she always been this illiterate? Her reading continued to quicken the longer it took for her to speak, and eventually she settled with just putting the literature down next to her. Greta's hand soon found her mouth and she proceeded to pinch at her lips while deep in thought. After a minute, she spoke.

"Headmistress Mcgonagall will no doubt come in to question you once she realizes you're awake, right?"

Scorpius nodded subsequent to a pause, which only made Lupin more anxious. As she stood from her chair and started to pace again (a nervous habit of hers), he shifted in the bed so he could face her. His eyes traced the pattern her feet took across the room, the way the walked so elegantly, lightly, as if she was some kind of ballerina. A bubble of admiration became swollen in his stomach as he observed her.

"If that's true," she said and glanced at him, only to see his eyes flicker away, "Then we need to come up with a story." She chewed on her lip and turned around in an attempt to forget what she'd just saw. _Not now,_ she thought to herself. _Not. Now._ Greta's hands made circular motions when she spoke, "I told them that we were walking together to the Dining Hall and the Dragon came out of nowhere. They all think that it attacked you and I used _Bombardeos_ to fight it away. But I don't know how to explain the situation with my wand."

Scorpius remembered the way her weapon had snapped so easily between Simon's fingers and he cringed. How could someone do something so cruel? His gut ached with sympathy for her. When it happened, she protested furiously, screaming that it had been a gift from her grandfather before he passed. Scorpius wanted nothing more than to Punch Simon in the face for what he did. "You could say the wand rebounded." He added as Greta mumbled to herself incoherently.

Lupin stared at him with curiosity before she questioned exactly _how_ it rebounded. Without a thorough explanation, Headmistress Mcgonagall would find out what else the two were hiding about that day - hich would surely get them both expelled.

"Just say that there had been a growing crack in your wand, so when you cast the spell it hit the dragon but part of it rebounded at the same time, which is why your wand broke." Malfoy said and attempted to sit up in bed, but only succeeded in going halfway before he plopped back down.

Lupin looked at him before a smirk appeared on her face as she acknowledged his intelligent response. "Not bad." She chuckled.

Scorpius felt a wave of pride flow over him as she did this, and smiled widely back at her. He tended to sell himself short in many aspects of life, including everything in the 'smart' category, so to have someone like Greta recognise his own potential gave him a somewhat adequate amount of confidence in himself. He understood that he wasn't _completely_ useless, but he often overlooked the good things about himself. It was mostly due to the fact that his father had once been considered a bad person, and given that fact he _had_ to be a bad person too, right?

Just as he was about to open his mouth to compliment Greta on her perceptiveness, her eyes flicked to the clock and back to him. Her smirk faded and she looked to the ground. "Look, Scorpius," (this took him aback for a minute, not a lot of people called him by his first name) "I have to go, but, get better… I guess." she turned to the door as if something had scared her out of the room, and opened it swiftly. Before she left, however, Lupin stepped back into the room and looked directly at him so fiercely, he thought for a minute that he was a ghost and she was retrieving his soul from the great beyond.

"If you tell anyone, _anything_ else other than what I told you, you'll be dead, Malfoy. Hear me? _Dead_." And with that, she was gone.

Scorpius at first could barely comprehend how fast she'd left, but he tried not to think about it. He understood that she had other things she needed to do, but still couldn't find an explanation to why she'd left so abruptly… It was sunday, nobody was busy on sunday. It had been so long since he'd actually _talked_ to someone (excluding the times he'd been made fun of, or the few group projects he was forced to share with people) that at first he hadn't believed it had happened at all. He resorted to thinking he'd done something to scare Greta away so fast, but he shook the thought away, _she_ was the scary one, not him. Besides, she'd forgotten her book here, she'd be back to get it at some point… right?

* * *

The night sky had crept over Hogwarts too fast for Punzie to comprehend. She thought she might have a bit more time to prepare herself before she had to… y'know, do the _one thing she was never, ever, ever supposed to do… ever._ Perhaps it felt so quick because she'd been dwelling on it for so long. Whatever it was, she had made a promise to herself - and to Scorpius… though he had no idea she was doing it at all.

As she dressed herself, her eyes fluttered over to Greta's sleeping body. Her sides heaved in the motions of deep sleep, which indicated to Rapunzel that she had her opening. She let out a short breath as she pulled on her sundress and loose cardigan (that almost always fell off of her left shoulder). She had no idea what time it was, but she didn't care all that much. She knew it was late and that Greta was sleeping; that was enough to get her up and moving. Taking a deep breath, she gathered Pascal onto her shoulder with a kiss and headed out.

The hallway was empty (as expected), but she knew that teachers _had_ to be doing rounds now that security had doubled. Luckily, whenever Greta had previously accompanied her on midnight errands, she'd always provided Punz with a detailed schedule of the security list. Since Hufflepuff house was on the bottom floor, she'd have to bypass most of the security to get to the hospital wing.

She looked at the paper that Greta had once given her and took a deep breath.

As she mindlessly walked and worked with the routine she'd practiced a million times, her mind floated back to the conversation she'd had with her two best friends in the bathroom. Though she was sure they'd been alone, she couldn't help but feel like there was someone else… there.

' _Whenever weh do these little 'expeditions' weh attract more attention teh errselves. From now on, weh sae nothing about theh dragon no matter wot happens. Weh need teh lie low, tha's theh most important thin' right now.'_

' _I like that plan.'_

Rapunzel couldn't help but feel like they were the bad guys in this situation, and honestly it was eating her alive, but she didn't want to worry her friends with her meaningless anxiety. She had to be brave like they were, right?

Punz had been so lost in thought that she almost forgot about the ghost that paced the hall near the Divination tower. She tucked herself around the corner and pressed herself against the wall until he disappeared down the other wing. When she was sure he was gone she continued until she stood in front of the Hospital Wing's door. She knew that no nurses would be in, but what about Scorpius? Rapunzel had no idea what she'd do if he was awake, she only hoped he was exhausted enough to be asleep by now.

As her heartbeat quickened, she sent a nervous look in Pascal's direction, who (despite him being a Chameleon) reflected it perfectly. He was by far her closest companion, which is why she'd trusted him to come with her in the first place (it's not like he could tell anyone anyway, he's a lizard after all). He gave her a sense of comfort whenever a situation like this happened to arise - he insured that she wasn't alone in the toughest of times. He'd been with her for quite some time and was happy to see that he was still as attached to her as she was to him. He never failed to make her feel better.

After what had seemed like forever for her small, scaled friend, Rapunzel's hands found the door's handle, and as expected, she let out a sigh of anxiety before she pulled it softly open.

To her surprise Scorpius was fast asleep, barely making a sound. He looked so helpless, the way he lay there with all those wraps around him. He made no movement as the door creaked and only snored softly to himself. The dark circles under his eyes were evident, so Punz was sure that he was in deep enough sleep for perform her anticipating task.

She felt the guilt in her stomach tighten and she clasped her hands together as she neared him. This was all her fault; she wore all his injuries and all his pain like a hundred pound weight on her shoulders. She wanted to do this, she _needed_ to do this, after all it was the least she could do given the circumstances.

Pascal made a small noise and rested a tiny hand on her cheek. He only wanted to see her happy, so her nervousness was making him a little uneasy. He knew that whatever they were doing was bad, but he would always be here for Rapunzel - she was his closest companion after all.

Rapunzel took a seat next to the twin bed and looked over the injured student with sad eyes. If only they hadn't gone to the Dragon Ring, this would never had happened. She wished she could travel back in time and tell herself not to, but unfortunately that wasn't exactly possible (as far as she knew). Her stomach knotted as she lifted Scorpius' hand and placed it on her lap. She reached behind herself and grabbed the loose brain that hung low on her back. With shaking fingers she undid a few sections and wrapped it delicately around Malfoy's exposed hand.

She sighed. "Ready, Pascal?"

He nodded.

With a shaking voice, she started:

' _Flower, gleam and glow,_

 _Let your power shine,_

 _Make the clock reverse,_

 _Bring back what once was mine._

 _Heal what has been hurt,_

 _Change the fates design,_

 _Save what has been lost,_

 _Bring back what once was mine…_

 _What once was mine.'_

Her tired eyes lifted from her lap and glanced at her subject, who's color had returned to his face. The bruises on his cheeks had gone, and he looked more refreshed than ever. A smile found its way to her lips and she felt a sense of relief wash over her.

Before her celebration could begin, she felt Pascal stiffen on her shoulder as he slid backwards into her hair. At first she was confused, why was he scared? They'd just healed someone after all, he didn't need to be afraid! After a second, though, she noticed what he'd suddenly become so scared of.

Deep in the corner of the room, like a Dementor in the night, a shadow appeared sinisterly out from the darkness.

She gasped...


End file.
